"The Dragon Lord's lair..."
Raon clicked his tongue softly as he stared at the dimensional passage flickering with golden light.
"I never thought I'd enter the Dragon Lord's lair this way."
He had gathered information across the continent to find the Dragon Lord's lair, but that was to kill him. He never imagined he would enter his lair after the Dragon Lord's death.
"Treasures?"
Gold Dragon Bartius narrowed his eyes as he examined the dimensional passage leading to the Dragon Lord's lair.
"I doubt there are only the treasures you seek in that place."
He stroked his chin, suggesting that dangers different from those in ordinary dragon lairs might be lurking in the Lord's lair.
"W-what do you mean?"
Dorian wiped the drool from his mouth with his sleeve as he turned to look at Bartius.
"Are there monsters instead of treasures in the Lord's lair?"
He suddenly backed away three steps as if frightened.
"There are definitely monsters!"
Red Dragon Valasiur nodded vigorously.
"That pervert of a Lord probably created plenty of bizarre chimeras, so it would be best to be careful."
He exhaled red steam from his nostrils, warning them not to enter the lair recklessly.
"I don't think that's likely?"
Blue Dragon Sirtiren slightly raised her eyebrow.
"The Lord didn't like creating Guardians."
She shrugged her shoulders, suggesting there was no need to be so tense.
"Bartius. What do you mean by there's not just simple treasures?"
Raon made a brief gesture toward Bartius.
"The Lord has never revealed his lair until now. Considering that even Ancient Dragons close to him have never entered it, it's clearly different from an ordinary lair."
Bartius deeply furrowed his brow as he looked at the Dragon Lord's corpse.
"As Sirtiren said, there probably aren't any Guardians, but it would be best to be cautious in case something unexpected happens."
He clenched and then unclenched his fist, as if indicating that he would enter the Dragon Lord's lair first.
"You're exhausted too."
Black Dragon Dariauran snorted as he looked at Bartius.
"Since Raon Zieghart must be tired too, I'll take the lead!"
He stepped forward as if saying he would enter the lair first.
"That idiot is saying something right for once."
White Dragon Bursiarabi raised his hand.
"Those who are drained should step back."
He nodded, indicating that he and the others who still had strength and mana left would enter first.
"No, Raon Zieghart and I will enter first."
Bartius shook his head firmly.
"I have a rough idea of what the Lord might have prepared."
He exhaled calmly, saying that it would be right for him to enter first as he was from the same Gold lineage.
"Raon Zieghart. You go in first."
Bartius lowered his hand, telling Raon to enter the Lord's lair first.
"Me first?"
"Yes. Because I can trust you."
He revealed his calm eyes, as if saying he would trust whatever Raon did.
"Alright."
Raon nodded as he unclenched his fist.
'I'm drained of energy, but not to the point where I can't fight.'
His physical strength, mental power, and aura weren't in perfect condition, but he was confident he could fight better than anyone else present.
"Then let's go in."
Raon entered the golden dimension connected to the Lord's lair after seeing Bartius's nod. Woooong! There was no floating sensation like when crossing a Dimensional Gate. Nothing changed, just like passing through an ordinary door. However, all his companions who had been around him had disappeared.
'Another black universe?'
The black universe where the Dragon Lord had hidden himself appeared again. Just as he wondered if he had taken the wrong path, a man wearing a blue robe emerged from the edge of the universe and began rushing toward him.
'That's...'
Raon gritted his teeth as he watched the blue-robed man approaching.
'Derus Robert!'
The blue-robed man suddenly appearing and rushing toward him was his nemesis, the continental criminal Derus Robert. The villain drew his sword with a cold smile, as if he had been waiting for this chance.
"Damn it!"
Raon bit his lip as he placed his hand on the Heavenly Drive.
'Why now of all times!'
If he were in good condition, he might have been able to escape by using his Sword Domain Heaven's Rift, but now he was too drained to even counterattack. He couldn't think of any way to overcome this crisis.
'Damn that... huh?'
Raon stopped in his tracks, frowning and cursing at the damn situation.
'Wait a minute.'
No matter how he thought about it, this made no sense. Derus Robert appearing because the Dragon Lord died wasn't something he could understand with common sense. It wasn't like he was an Archangel.
Especially since the man had personally declared war to begin in 1 year and 1 month before disappearing, it was absurd for him to appear here after just 1 month.
'Then the condition...'
Raon lowered his hand from the Heavenly Drive he was about to draw and simply watched as Derus Robert approached fiercely.
"Raon Zieghart!"
Derus Robert sneered as he swung his sword toward Raon's neck. The silver hair flowing elegantly like melted candle wax, the fierce, sinister gleam in his eyes, even the aura overflowing with killing intent and ferocity. This was indeed the Derus Robert from his memories.
But Raon didn't move even when facing Derus Robert. Instead, he closed his eyes and received the fierce sword strike with his body.
Whoosh! There was no pain of flesh tearing or bones breaking. Only a sensation like a gentle breeze passed across his shoulder. When he opened his eyes again, the black universe had subsided, and a cave without a single light appeared.
It was a massive space, seemingly large enough to fit an Ancient Dragon's true form with room to spare. This appeared to be the Dragon Lord's real lair.
"As expected."
Bartius walked out from the side, nodding his head.
"I thought you could do it."
He gave a faint smile, as if affirming his trust in Raon.
"That just now..."
"It was a trap magic set by the Dragon Lord."
Bartius snorted as he crushed what appeared to be a recently deactivated magical formula in his hand.
"The Lord placed a top-tier illusion magic to keep this place hidden. If you had tried to attack the illusion, this space itself would have completely collapsed."
He nodded, saying that because Raon didn't attack the illusory Derus Robert, they were able to prevent the lair from disappearing.
"I was right to trust you."
Bartius curled his lips, saying that even he might not have completely escaped the Dragon Lord's illusion magic.
"Don't trust me too much."
Raon clicked his tongue briefly.
"I almost fell for the illusion created by the Dragon Lord too."
Realizing that Derus was fake was a matter of prediction. If he hadn't seen Derus in person recently, he would never have noticed it was an illusion, so Bartius's trust was somewhat burdensome.
"No, I will trust you."
Bartius smiled thinly as if he simply wanted to trust him and moved forward. Each time he extended his hand, magical formulas remaining in the space were uprooted.
"I've deactivated all the traps and magic in the Lord's lair."
Bartius created a lighting spell and floated it to the ceiling, as if saying it was now safe to examine the interior. Whaaaa! The pitch-black darkness receded, and the true appearance of the Dragon Lord's nest was very slowly revealed.
"Huh...?"
Raon's jaw trembled slightly as he examined the Dragon Lord's lair.
"Swords and books?"
The cave was filled with items that were hard to imagine belonging in the Dragon Lord's lair, making him wonder if they had come to the wrong place.
"No, those aren't just ordinary books..."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he read the titles of the books piled up like hills.
"They're Martial Arts Manuals."
The stacks of books rising like mountains on the left weren't magic books, but all Martial Arts Manuals. There were cheap manuals that could be bought in the market, but also rare manuals that had made it into legends.
"All the weapons on this side are swords."
Bartius furrowed his brows as he looked at the swords embedded on the right side.
"It seems these are collectibles to overcome his inferiority complex toward Glenn Zieghart.
He gave a hollow laugh, suggesting that the Dragon Lord had gathered all these martial arts manuals and swords to defeat Glenn.
-Ha!
Wrath snorted in disbelief.
-Even what that lizard kept hidden is pathetic!
He clicked his tongue, saying the Dragon Lord was never leader material from the beginning.
'Still, it seems like he was trying to overcome that inferiority complex in his own way here.'
Raon shook his head, saying that didn't seem right.
'If he had tried to fight my grandfather with his natural martial prowess instead of becoming corrupted, like the former Leader of the Holy Sword Alliance Darkan, it wouldn't have come to this.'
He felt somewhat sad, thinking that if the Dragon Lord had taken the right path, the outcome would have been different.
"The types of swords are quite diverse too."
Raon whistled as he examined the swords left behind by the Dragon Lord.
"No, it's not just the variety of types, the quality varies as well. Many could be called masterpieces."
From cheap iron swords that a local blacksmith might discard to the legendary True Emperor Sword said to have destroyed the Dark Empire in the distant past—every kind of sword was there. (E/N: I have no idea what this awesome True Emperor Sword randomly is)
"Inside there are also the treasures you've been hoping for."
Bartius nodded, saying that there were gold and jewels in the inner part of the lair as well.
"I'll go tell those outside about this place."
He left the Dragon Lord's lair, saying he would bring the people waiting outside.
"Hmm..."
Raon was about to head toward the left side where the Martial Arts Manuals were piled up while examining the swords, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
'A book?'
In the right cave filled only with swords, a single book remained. There were no letters on its black cover, and it didn't seem very old.
"What is this book?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he opened the book.
"Huh...?"
-What is it?
Wrath pushed his face closer, looking curious.
-What kind of Martial Arts Manual is it that you're so surprised!
He wagged his tail up and down as if asking Raon to tell him quickly.
'This isn't a Martial Arts Manual.'
Raon hugged the book to himself as his lips curved into a smile.
'But it seems like it will be more helpful to us than any Martial Arts Manual.'
***
"Woooooaaaah!"
Dorian screamed at the top of his lungs as he looked at the mountains of swords and Martial Arts Manuals. It was, of course, a scream of joy and happiness.
"C-can I take all of these?"
Dorian ran toward the mountain of swords, seemingly with space to spare in his pouch despite already having put in more than five dragons.
"There's gold and jewels in the inner cave, so gather those first."
Raon raised his hand to point at the inner room.
"Yes sir!"
Dorian ran to the inner cave with tears in his eyes, looking genuinely happy.
"What in the world is that pouch?"
Bartius tilted his head as he looked at the back of Dorian's head.
"Indeed. That level of compression is surprising even to me. It's beyond what's possible with our dragon magic."
Sirtiren also tilted her head as if she couldn't understand.
"Lord. This old geezer researched human swords to this extent, yet why so pathetically..."
Black Dragon Dariauran sighed regretfully.
"I suppose that was the extent of his capacity."
White Dragon Bursiarabi closed his eyes for a long moment. It seemed that he too had once respected the Lord.
"Did he collect every sword and Martial Arts Manual from the continent?"
Burren exhaled sharply as he looked at the Martial Arts Manuals piled up like mountains.
"There's a disgustingly large amount. Dragons all have big hands, don't they."
Martha clicked her tongue as she examined the swords.
"Take whatever you want. Before someone worse than this gluttonous demon arrives."
Raon flicked his hand toward Martha and Burren.
"Got it!"
"Hmm, if that's the case..."
Martha and Burren ran as if their feet were on fire to find the Martial Arts Manuals and swords that suited them.
"Raon. Are you okay?"
Evelyn approached cautiously, as if she had no interest in the swords, Martial Arts Manuals, or treasures, and was only concerned about Raon.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
Raon nodded, saying that nothing had happened.
"But why are you smiling?"
Evelyn smiled faintly as she looked at Raon's expressionless face.
"Smiling, you say?"
Red Dragon Valasiur tilted his head as he looked at Raon.
"Isn't that just his usual expressionless face?"
He shifted his gaze, wondering why she thought Raon was smiling.
"Can't you see it? He's smiling broadly."
Evelyn shrugged, saying that Raon was extremely happy.
-Ugh, stalkers can even read emotions now...
Wrath glanced at Evelyn and trembled his lips as if disgusted.
"Ha..."
Raon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at Evelyn.
"I really can't fool you, can I."
He had no idea how she knew he was happy. She was truly a mysterious woman.
"You're right, I am in quite a good mood right now."
Raon nodded with a faint smile.
"Why? Because you killed the Dragon Lord and got treasures?"
Evelyn tilted her chin, asking him to explain why.
"Killing the Dragon Lord is good, especially since the information about his death has been controlled."
He raised his finger lightly and waved it.
"The Dragon Lord died in a dimension he created himself. That means neither Derus Robert who controls the Archangel, nor the Heavenly Demon will know of his death. It will have a huge impact on the war. And..."
Raon raised his hand and tapped his chest where the black book was stored, drawing a cold smile.
"Now I think I can counterattack against Derus."